NetQuarterLatte t1_jb6gwc2 wrote
Reply to comment by Rottimer in Police arrest suspect in rape of woman on the Upper West Side by dosmey
I understand that you're worried that guy may be wrongly convicted. And that you're worried you might also be wrongly convicted.
Indeed many males have been wrongly accused and convicted of sexual assault in the past. And history has many examples of that.
However, I claim these fears have been blown out of proportion in today's NYC.
And the fear-mongering environment (of innocent people being unjustly convicted) is actually part of what has been blocking the answer to what you asked: "why he still hasn’t been tried after 4 years".
That problem doesn't get addressed because our legislative is more worried about the defendant's rights than worried about achieving justice as a whole.
Rottimer t1_jb6zwak wrote
>We are to look upon it as more beneficial, that many guilty persons should escape unpunished, than one innocent person should suffer. The reason is, because it’s of more importance to community, that innocence should be protected, than it is, that guilt should be punished; for guilt and crimes are so frequent in the world, that all of them cannot be punished; and many times they happen in such a manner, that it is not of much consequence to the public, whether they are punished or not. But when innocence itself, is brought to the bar and condemned, especially to die, the subject will exclaim, it is immaterial to me, whether I behave well or ill; for virtue itself, is no security. And if such a sentiment as this, should take place in the mind of the subject, there would be an end to all security what so ever.
-John Adams
I have no idea why this guy's crime hasn't been adjudicated. There is a lot of evidence that much of these delays in criminal court are the fault of the state more than the defendant. But we have a fundamental disagreement on civil and constitutional rights if you believe that achieving justice and defendant's rights are in opposition to each other.
NetQuarterLatte t1_jb73fid wrote
>But we have a fundamental disagreement on civil and constitutional rights if you believe that achieving justice and defendant's rights are in opposition to each other.
In spirt, I don't believe they are in opposition.
In practice, if one pursues one side with recklessness, then pursuing one can hurt the other.
Anyone who pretends that's not the case would be denying part of the reason the US end up with mass incarceration.
Now that the pendulum swung over the other direction, defendant's rights are being increasingly overprotected at the expense of the public (at least in NYC). The discovery reform is probably a good recent example of that.
The right for a speedy trial should also apply to The People. If the suspect is free on the streets, the defense should be on the clock to be ready for trial, in my opinion.
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>for guilt and crimes are so frequent in the world
That may have been true in his time, but that line would make John Adams be labelled as a crimes fear-monger in today's NYC.
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